The California Center on Teaching Careers (the Center), in partnership with TEACH and the Ad Council, has released a series of Public Service Advertisements (PSAs) designed to attract more candidates to the teaching profession. In a comprehensive campaign spanning TV, radio and social media, the PSAs will reach audiences across California to demonstrate the benefits of teaching through storytelling.

“We need to continue to change public perception of the teaching profession,” said Donna Glassman-Sommer, executive director of the Center. “Leading a 21st century classroom is an incredibly engaging, dynamic and rewarding career opportunity, with plenty of room to be creative and inspire real change. By showing compelling examples and encouraging teachers to share their own stories, our goal is to start a dialogue about what being a teacher is really all about.”

Enrollment in teacher preparation programs in California remains near historic lows, underscoring the need to attract more teachers to the profession and support them through the credentialing process. Approximately 75 percent of California districts reported having a shortage of qualified teachers for the 2016–17 school year, particularly in math, science, bilingual and special education.

The campaign is part of the Center’s work to alleviate the teacher shortage. Recently launched with support from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) and the state legislature, the Center is working on the ground in eight regions across the state to attract new teachers and help place and retain them in classrooms.

“The Center is addressing the teacher shortage head-on with new, creative approaches,” said Mary Vixie Sandy, executive director of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. “This PSA campaign is just one piece of their overall work to attract more teachers and elevate the profession, and we’re excited about its potential to lead more people to seriously consider teaching as a career.”

The targeted, statewide campaign will continue through 2018. Each PSA in the campaign presents an exciting story of how a teacher found an innovative way to reach their students and help them understand the material at hand. The PSA videos can be viewed at: http://bit.ly/CACenterVideos

The PSA campaign will directly lead candidates to the Center’s online personalized, virtual tool for finding information on different teaching pathways and enrolling in programs. Found at www.CaliforniaTeach.org, the tool will heavily support interested candidates in entering the profession.

About The California Center on Teaching Careers

The California Center on Teaching Careers’ mission is to elevate the teaching profession through attracting new and existing talent to impact teaching and learning in California’s 21st century classrooms. As a statewide body charged with solving California’s teacher shortage through collaborative leadership, the Center will also work to support innovative programs through future grants and sharing best practices. To learn more, visit CaliforniaTeach.org.

About The Ad Council

The Ad Council brings together the most creative minds in advertising and media to address the most worthy causes. Its innovative, pro bono social good campaigns raise awareness. They inspire action. They save lives. To learn more, visit Adcouncil.org, follow the Ad Council’s communities on Facebook and Twitter, and view the creative on YouTube.

About TEACH

We will see over a million teaching jobs open in the next decade.  We have an urgent need and unprecedented opportunity to drive the transformation of K-12 education by encouraging and empowering our nation’s most talented students to teach. TEACH is leading the movement to recruit the next generation of teachers by redefining the profession as a top career choice. TEACH is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, launched by the U.S. Department of Education with significant leadership and support provided by Microsoft. To learn more, visit www.TEACH.org/about, like us at Facebook.com/TEACH.org or follow us on Twitter @TEACHorg.

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This information is from the California Center on Teaching Careers